iefje wrote:The whole cover versions debate reminds me of something Hank has said in one of his interviews. What he said, came down to this: When orchestras play arrangements of centuries-old classical music, it's fine. When blues guitarists (like Eric Clapton) play arrangements of blues standards, it's fine. But when The Shadows, Hank Marvin and The Ventures (and other guitar groups) play their instrumental interpretations of familiar music, it's not done or highly criticised.
The key word there is 'interpretations'...as opposed to 'copies'. The Shadows' covers fall into both camps. Regarding the 'copies'...I can't ever imagine wanting to hear The Shads' recording of
Albatross rather than Fleetwood Mac's; or
Baker Street rather than Gerry Rafferty's; or
Classical Gas rather than Mason Williams. And most of their late '80s recordings I wouldn't want to listen to by anyone! But I would rather listen to their recording of
Semi-Detached Suburban in preference to Manfred Mann (apologies...I've said all this before!). And I love their versions of
Superstar, and
The Most Beautiful Girl because they
aren't slavish copies. I've got an interview with Hank in a magazine where he states that jazz musicians often do their versions of standards...and no one asks them why they're doing them. To be fair, his solo material of the '90s tended to be more interpretative than The Shads covers of the '80s. Blues musicians' versions of songs are almost always interpretative (even if you don't care for blues music...!). I don't think you can really make the comparison with classical music. My father used to spend hours poring over his copies of The Record Guide which reviewed various versions of the Classical Music canon (for want of a better word!). In the classical 'world' - it's all about the original composition and the soloist(s)', chamber group's or orchestra's performance of it...in the pop world it's about the original recording; record your own version, by all means, but try to rearrange it creatively...try to add something to it. Santana's version of The Zombies'
She's Not There is possibly the best example.
Most of The Shadows' '60s covers were interpretative - although some worked better than others and some (
Cathy's Clown from the
Jigsaw LP, for example) sound to me like filler.
Rockin' With Curly Leads - much as I love the album as a whole - is where the copying started. I always omit the first track of each side when I play that record. Good though the recordings are (Jim once said that their recording of
Pinball Wizard/See Me, Feel Me was one of the best album opening tracks ever...but it was a copy of a New Seekers record!!), who would honestly choose to listen to The Shadows' version of
Good Vibrations rather than The Beach Boys?!